Kate Klein Known For Her Passion For Art, Dance, Nature
The local arts community lost one of its greatest supporters on April 15, when KMUD Music Director Kate Klein passed away at Jerold Phelps Community Hospital in Garberville. Klein, who turned 56 on April 10, was diagnosed with cancer just three weeks before her death.
A strong, passionate presence at KMUD, where she had served as music director for nine years, Klein was best known to regional audiences for her long-running "KMood" show, where she encouraged listeners to call in with "words of wisdom" that were subsequently aired on the program. One of the station's most dedicated volunteers, she spent countless hours working on fundraisers and benefits, and was often seen with a camera in hand, photographing people doing what they loved most. "Her portrait photos captured some of the best moments at KMUD," recalled former News Director Estelle Fennell, who spent the better part of two decades working with Klein.
Klein's greatest contribution to KMUD, though, was the creation of the
station's vast and eclectic music library, which mirrored both her love
of great music and her undying support of independent artists.
Fittingly, her close friendship with a musician, singer-songwriter
Karie Hillery, was what brought her to Southern Humboldt: the two met
each other in 1982 in San Pedro, where Klein was teaching movement
classes. When Klein attended Hillery's wedding here in 1988, "she fell
in love with the area," and after Hillery purchased a duplex in Redway
in 1991, Klein became her first tenant.
"She beat me here by a year," said Hillery, who moved here in 1993. She
laughed when she recalled helping Klein move from Ojai to Redway, and
packing "all the rocks and shells" that Klein used to both paint and
make exquisite mobiles from - many of which were displayed in her back
yard. Klein also painted watercolors and "loved working with children,"
even though she never became a parent herself; one of her projects at
KMUD was a children's radio show. Before being employed by the station,
where she had volunteered for years, she also worked at the Benbow
Restaurant, Music for Little People, and the Garberville Theatre.
Klein's passions for music, dance, movement, and art drove her life, as
reflected in her long associations with both KMUD and the long-defunct
KBEY - where she met one of her best friends, Alicia Seinen: "She came
in to apply for a weekend DJ job," Seinen recalled. "I was 23 and she
was 39, and we were friends immediately. She was amazing... She had a
fire in her that was unquenched. She laughed all the time." "We got
thrown out of places for laughing too loud!" Hillery added.
Su Lukasha, who worked with Klein at Music For Little People, also
reminisced about Klein's "unmistakable laughter," her great talent as a
character actress and vocalist, the creativity that she brought to
every social gathering she attended, and her sense of empathy: "She
always gave a damn what people thought," Lukasha said, "and what they
had gone or were currently going through. She had a way of making
people feel they and their experiences were important, and had unique
and profound meaning."
Nature was Klein's greatest love, especially the ocean, and in her last
days, she sought healing and refuge by the sea. A week before she died,
Klein took a trip to Gold Beach, on the Oregon coast: "It was really
important for her to make the drive north, to be on the ocean for her
birthday," Seinen recalled. "We stayed in these little oceanfront
cabins, and I left her door open so she could listen to the sea. She
never did make it down there, but she was determined to beat it,
determined to live." Upon returning, they contacted Hospice and Klein's
closest friends: "We all spent the last few days caring for her,"
Seinen said, adding that the volunteers at Hospice and the staff at
Phelps - especially Dr. Kevin Starr - "were just wonderful to us."
Ironically, in addition to her love of the outdoors, Klein was well
known for the zealous attention she paid to her health, including her
work and living conditions. An intensely private person - despite her
outgoing, occasionally forceful, demeanor - after being diagnosed Klein
kept her condition under wraps, saying only, on her final show on March
30, that she was taking time to heal. News of her illness came as a
sudden blow to loved ones, and her death was a shock both to friends
and the community at large: "I didn't even have time to get used to the
fact that she was sick, much less that she's gone," said Hillery.
"It saddens me deeply that she suffered so much, because she tried so
hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle," said Fennell. "The fact that she
left us so swiftly and heroically adds to her artistic legend, in my
view. I hope she is at supreme peace now, flying free and unencumbered
by worldly worries and hardships, free to be the wonderful spirit she
truly is and always was."
Klein passed away at approximately 7 p.m. on April 15, in the presence
of one of her closest friends and two Hospice volunteers. A Memorial
Dance is planned for May, which will include live music and a ceremony.
Musicians interested in performing can contact Johanna "Jo Mama" Hamel,
P.O. Box 2134, Redway, Calif., 95560.
An independently produced radio tribute to Klein is also in the works,
to include selections from her previous programs - including her "Swan
Song" show - and music from her personal collection. Along with various
eulogies from friends, listeners will also have an opportunity to phone
in and share their experiences with Klein. Anyone interested in sharing
thoughts to be read on the program can send them to Su Lukasha, P.O.
Box 2332, Redcrest, Calif., 95569.
An account has been set up at the Community Credit Union to help with
expenses; donations can also be dropped off at Kidz N More, 915 Redwood
Dr. in Garberville. A date and place for the memorial will be announced
soon.
